Paper on the impact of HIV/AIDS on public sector human resources in Africa

Centre for Administrative Innovation in the Euro-Mediterranean Region, CAIMED

Collection:

Seminars Cycle "The frontier innovation on Public Administration"

Description:

The public service is the biggest single employee in most of the African countries. In South Africa the public service is the single biggest employer, employing 1.037 million public servants in approximately 140 government departments at national and provincial level. The majority of departments and public servants (70%) are at provincial level and deal with service delivery at grass roots level. It follows that a very high number of the country's population are also dependants of public servants. The impact of HIV/AIDS on the public service work force will therefore be closely intertwined with the fate of society at large. The main burden in dealing with the impact of the HIV/AIDS will fall on the African public services. In order for the public services to be successful, the impact of the pandemic on its own employees will have to be managed. The paper will explore its response to the challenge and examine whether current workplace policy frameworks are adequate to meet the challenge of HIV/AIDS in the public service.